Good Kids by Benjamin Nugent A Novel

By dropping those larger plot questions, he ends up with an intriguing central character surrounded by an array of interesting friends and family members, but no discernable arc or strong point to make. Like Josh’s adolescent feelings for Khadijah, it’s a lot of emotional buildup with no consummation.
-AV Club

Synopsis

The critically acclaimed author of American Nerd makes his fiction debut with this romantic tragicomedy about a teenage boy and girl who discover his dad is having an affair with her mom. For readers of Chad Harbach and Jennifer Egan, and fans of filmmakers like Noah Baumbach.

At fifteen, Josh Paquette and Khadijah Silverglate-Dunn catch Josh’s father and Khad ijah’s mother kissing in a natural foods store. As both of their families fall apart, the teenagers sign a pact never to cheat on anyone, ever. They have no problem keeping the vow—until they meet again at twentyeight, both struggling with career and identit y, and both engaged to other people.

Acclaimed author Benjamin Nugent’s fiction debut is a hilarious, sad, handsomely plotted story of love and class. Stylistically adventurous but always accessible, Nugent trains a keen ear on the vernaculars of Generation Y and the baby boomers, as the young and middle-aged try to decide what parenting, background, and loyalty mean in an America struggling to redefine virtue.

Benjamin Nugent's nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, and n+1, and his fiction has appeared in Tin House. He holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was an Iowa Arts fellow. Director of Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, he teaches fiction and nonfiction in its MFA and undergraduate programs. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Critic reviews for Good Kids
All: 1 | Positive: 0 | Negative: 1

AV Club

Reviewed by Kevin McFarland
on
Jan 28 2013

By dropping those larger plot questions, he ends up with an intriguing central character surrounded by an array of interesting friends and family members, but no discernable arc or strong point to make. Like Josh’s adolescent feelings for Khadijah, it’s a lot of emotional buildup with no consummation.